by Beth Cato
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Cheddar Luck Next Time is a cheese-filled cozy mystery debut by Beth Cato.
Bird recently inherited her grandmother’s estate (after she mysteriously disappeared). Since she ran an artisanal preserves business, the property includes a capital-K Kitchen. This is the perfect location for Bird’s new gourmet cheese board business to thrive. But before she could even try to settle into town, the local troublemaker ends up dead on her rural road. Law enforcement seems to be going after the wrong person, and Bird is determined to prove his innocence.
The author is writing from the lived experience of someone with an autism diagnosis, and I felt pretty seen in the autistic main character in a lot of small ways. Bird has a few sensory needs, like wearing ear plugs around loud sirens. She is very blunt and sometimes her emotions appear to be stunted.
While I did figure out who the murderer was pretty early, I still had a lot of fun reading this book. It started a little slow for me, but I still read 24% into the ebook before bed one night, so it held my interest.
Then I switched to using the accessibility setting on my Kindle Paperwhite to connect to my Bluetooth speaker and inhaled the rest of the book while I was dealing with a migraine the next day.
The publisher blurb noted this book would be good for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and The Maid and that tracks. I also got some vibes for Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, though this one is set in modern time. (The show, not the book series; I still need to read those!)
I definitely would love to read future books featuring Bird and her adorable adopted cat! And also more recipes for cheese-related snacks.
I received a complimentary review copy from Datura Books and NetGalley. All opinions contained herein are my own.
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